I had an L5/S1 open discectomy on 1/14/09 and am going through the recovery phase. So far so good; nerve pain in left hip and leg gone immediately after surgery. I didn't even feel that I needed pain meds for the surgical pain! However, even though I'm feeling good and walking about 1/2 a mile every day on the treadmill, I'm afraid of over-doing it. Sometimes when sitting, I'll get a shockingly bad pain down the sciatic nerve path. It has always been fleeting, but it reminds me all-to-clearly of that awful pain before surgery. How long do I need to be careful of bending, doing light housework or laundry? Also, I'm planning to return to my desk job on 2/2. Is that realistic or am I pushing it? My surgeon said 1 to 2 weeks since I work in a bank and have a desk job, but I knew I wasn't ready after 1 week! It will be 2 1/2 weeks when I'm planning to return. I just don't want to do anything that will undo the seeming success of my surgery.

You went through to much to mess things up...if you feel you might be over doing it then I bet you are....Im the same way....give yourself some time....your doctor knows best and it sounds as though your ready for work. dont bend...twist...lift...its not worth it. You will be able to do most of the things as before but do them much slower and more "thought out"...if you drop something dont just bend to pick it up....use a grabber or carefully bend at the knees to get it....move slow...also give yourself time to heal....soooo many people would love to be feeling as good as you do (so don't end up one of them).